Machine or apparatus for corking and labeling bottles or the like.



No. 745,840. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903. W. HIGGINS & W. G. EDMON'DS. MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR GORKING AND LABELING BOTTLES,

OR THBLIKE. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 12, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NO MODEL.

, Ilka we Noam PETERS cn, vHornJTuQ. vasmnswn n c I PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903. W. HIGGINS 6: W. G. EDMONDS. MACHINE 0R APPARATUS FOR GORKING AND LABELING BOTTLES,

OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 12, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

- weight f UNITED STATES Tatented December 1, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HIGGINS, OF CORBALLY, AND WILLIAM GEORGE'EDMONDS, OF DUBLIN, IRELAND.

MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR CORKING AND LABELING BOTTLES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,840, dated December 1, 1903.

Application filed December 12,1902. Serial No. 134,946. No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,WILLIAM HIGGINS, residing at Corbally Donamon post-office, Roscommon, in the county of Roscommon, and WiLLIAit GEORGE EDMONDS, residing at 9 Fownes street, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, subjectsof the King of Great Britain, have invented a new and useful Machine or Apparatus for Corking and Labeling Bottles or the Like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine or apparatus for simultaneously corking and applying labels to bottles and the like in one operation, thus both cheapening the cost of apparatus for this purpose and at the same time economizing time.

According to the invention we make use of a corkingmachine of known construction and of the kind wherein the bottle is held upon a support and the cork is forced into the mouth thereof from a holder by means of a descending plunger operated by hand. In conjunction with this corking-machine we provide a labeling-machine preferably of the kind described in the specification of our application of even date herewith, the said labeling-machine being actuated simultaneously with the operation of the corking-plunger, so as to paste the label and bring it against the bottle as it is being corked.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, we will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the improved combined corking and labeling machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view, the section being on the line 3 3, Fig. 1; and Fig. dis a section on the line 4: 4, Fig. 1.

a is the standard of the corking-machine; b, the bottle-support; c, the receptacle for the cork; d, the plunger for inserting the cork, and e the frame or slide, which is monntedin the support a, the said frame carrying the plunger d and being reciprocated by the handle or lever f, which is pivoted to the support a at f and is provided with a counter- This handle operates the slide and also compresses the cork in the receptacle c in the well-known manner.

g is a bracket, which is bolted to the standard a and to which the labeling-machine is secured. This labeling-machine is, as hereinbefore mentioned, of the kind described in the specification of our application of even date herewith.

It represents the outer frame of the labellug-machine, t' the label table or holder on which are held the pile of labels '5, and j is the frame, which is movably mounted inside the fixed frame 77. and within which the label table or holder t'can also slide, being held in its outermost position with respect to the said frame j by the spring 70, mounted upon the spindle is. r

j is a weight attached to the frame j and which has for its object to withdraw the labeltable from the pasting-pad, as hereinafter described.

In the machine described in the specification of our application of even date herewith the bottle or the like to be labeled is pushed upon the label-table; but in the arrangement herein shown, as the bottle must be fixed to be corked, it becomes necessary to advance the label table or holder toward the bottle, this being effected simultaneously with the introduction of the cork into the neck of the bottle. To this end we proceed as follows: The sliding frame 6, which is directly operated by the hand-leverf, has pivoted to it a link Z, this link being slotted, as shown at Z, at its lower end, the slotted portion engaging a pin m upon one end of a bell-crank lever m, pivoted at m to the frame h, and the other end of the said bell-crank lever being jointed, as shown at m to one end of a link it, the other end of which is pivoted to a pin it, secured to a bar 11 which slides in supports n of, fixed upon the bracket g, and which is designed to bear at its front end against the end of the frame j of the labelingmachine. With this arrangement it will be obvious that when the hand-leverf has been depressed for a certain distance the upper end of the slot Z in the link Z comes into contact with the pin m upon the bell-crank lever m andturns thesame uponits:piv0t,thuspushing forward the bar WP, and thereby pressing forward the frame 7', and consequently the label table or holder '5, against the bottle A at the moment that the cork is being inserted therein, the spring [6 enabling the table or holder t' to yield to the necessary extent-,and so cause the label to be curved in the manner described in the specification of our applicatio of even date herewith.

o is a frame carrying three pasting-pads of corrugated rubber, which can be adjusted in position relatively with one another by means of the right and left hand screw 0 working through nuts in the two outer pads, so as to enable the pad to paste labels of different dimensions. The frame 0 is supported on a reciprocating frame 19, which is mounted in guides p, and is attached at its upper end to the lower end of a rack 13 gearing with a pinion p rotatably mounted on a stud p in the main frame a and integral with or rigidly secured to a pinion q, gearing with a rack q, connected to the sliding frame e. In its normal position-that is to say, when the leverf is in its uppermost position, as shown in the drawings-the pile of labels is against the pasting-pad,and it will be obvious that the said pad must be removed from the labels before the said labels are approached toward the bottle in the manner above described. This movement of the pasting-pad takes place during the lost movement of the link Z, due to the slot Z, and it is effected by the rack-and-pinion gear above described, which on the depression of the leverf forces down the framep,this being done at a quicker rate than the frame 6 falls, as the pinion p is of larger diameter than the pinion q. On the downward movement of the framep the frame 0 is caused to follow it by the springs 0 0 so as to enter the paste-container r.

o 0" are springs coiled upon the ends of the frame-rods p p between the frame 0 and the nuts 0 upon the said rods. These springs yield when the frame 0 comes into contact with the guides 19 19, thereby allowing the frame 1) to move upward while the frame oand pad 0 remain stationary as the labels are pressed against and removed from the said pad.

To apply paste to the pad, we advantageously make use of the paste-container r, mounted upon the bracket g, and into which on the descent of the pad-support 0 a lip or the like 1* passes, so as to dip into the paste, and on the succeeding upward movement of the said support 0 carries up paste with it and applies it to a brush 5, adjustably fixed, as clearly shown, in the bracket 9. On the next downward movement of the pasting-pads the paste is transformed from the brush to the pads and thence to the labels.

In order that the pasting-pad shall not be hindered in its up-and-down movement by the clips for the labels which project from the said labels, we provide for slightly withdrawing the label-table at the beginning of the movement of the said pasting-pad to enable the latter to freely pass the label-clips. To this end We pivot upon one of the brackets n a lever 25, one end of which bears against the end of the framej and the other end is hinged to a catch-arm t, provided at its end with a claw t engaging the pin 11, which locks the bar 71 to the arm n. This arm twhen the leverf is returned to its uppermost position (shown in Fig. l) is caused by the lever m, rod n, and arm 15 to force the framej and label table or holder 1} forward beyond the end of the bar 11 as shown in Fig. 1, so as to apply the labels against the pasting-pad. When now the lever f is depressed, the weight j draws back the framej and label table or holder until it meets the bar 71 which is simultaneously moved forward under the action of the weight, and this movement of the frame j is sufficient to enable the pasting-pad to clear the label-clips. On the return upward movement-of the leverf after labeling a bottle the framej and label table or holder t'are pulled outward by the weight until the frame j bears equally against the rod and bar 01 in which position it rests till the lower end of the slot Z engages the pin m, whereupon the rod 25 is caused to push the framej forward again into the position shown in Fig. 1.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, We declare that what we claim is- 1. In a label-affixing apparatus the combination with mechanism for holding the article to be labeled, in stationary position, of a reciprocating labelholder, provided with means for holding a plurality of superposed labels, and arranged to reciprocate in a path perpendicular to the face of the article to which the label is to be applied, and a reciprocating device, movable in a path perpendicular to the path of the label-holder, for applying paste to the outermost label thereon, substantially as described.

2. In a label-applying apparatus, the combination with mechanism for holding the article to be labeled of a reciprocating labelholder, provided with means for holding a plurality of superposed labels, and arranged to reciprocate in a path perpendicular to the face of the article to which the label is to be applied, a reciprocating pasting device movable in a path perpendicular to the path of the label-holder for applying paste to the outermost label and a stationary paste-applying device in the path of the pasting device, substantially as described.

3. In a label-affixing apparatus the combination with means for holding an article to be labeled, of a horizontallyreciprocating label-holder provided with means for holding a plurality of unpasted, superposed labels, said label-holder moving in a path perpendicular to the face of the article to which the label is to be applied, a pasting device, arranged to reciprocate vertically across the path of the label-holder to apply paste to the outermost label, a stationary paste-applying device located in the path of pasting device,

a paste-receptacle and means for supplying paste therefrom to the paste-applying device, substantially as described.

4:. In a label-affixing apparatus, the combination with means for holding an article to be labeled, of a label-holder arranged to reciprocate horizontally toward and from the article, a paste-receptacle in a different horizontal plane from the label-holder, a vertically reciprocating pasting pad, provided with a paste-receiver adapted to enter said receptacle, a brush located in the path of said pasting-pad, and paste-receiver, for receiving paste from the latter and distributing it over the pasting device, substantially as described.

5. In a label-affixing apparatus, the combination with means for holding an article to be labeled of a reciprocating label-holder movable toward and from the article to be pasted, and provided with means for holding a plurality of superposed labels, a reciprocating pasting device, adapted to be brought into contact with the outermost label and movablein a path perpendicular to and across the path of the label-holder, means for adjusting the label-engaging face of said pasting device to correspond with the size of the label to be pasted, and a paste-applying device in the path of said pasting device, substantially as described.

6. In a label-affixing apparatus, the combination with means for holding an article to be labeled, of a label-holder arranged to reciprocate horizontally toward and from the article, a paste-receptacle in a different horizontal plane from the label-holder, a vertically-reciprocating pasting-pad, formed of sections and adjustable to paste labels of varying sizes, a paste-receiver connected therewith and adapted to enter said receptacle, and a stationary brush in the path formed of said pad and receiver, substantially as described.

7. In a label-affixing apparatus, the combination with means for holding an article to cally-reciprocating pasting-pad, adapted to receive paste from said receptacle and'apply it to the labels on said holder, and mechanism for withdrawing said holder, from engagement with said pad before applying a label to allow the pasting-pad to move out of the path of said holder,substantially as described 8. In a corking and labeling apparatus, the combination with mechanism for holding the bottle, of corking mechanism, a reciprocating label-holder provided with means for holding a plurality of superposed labels and arranged to reciprocate in a path perpendicular to the face of the bottle, a reciprocating device movable in a path perpendicular to the path of the label-holder, for applying paste to the outermost label a single operating-lever, and connections between said lever and said corking device, label table and reciprocating paste-applying device, substantially as described.

9. The combination with devices for holding a bottle, of a reciprocating label-holder, adapted to move toward and from the bottle in a path perpendicular to the face thereof to which the label is to be applied, pasting mechanism for the labels, corking mechanism movable in a plane perpendicular to the path of the label-holder, a single operating-lever, connections between said corking mechanism and said lever, and operative connections providing for lost motion between the said lever and said label-holder, substantially as described.

\VILLIAM HIGGINS. W'ILLIAM GEORGE EDMONDS.

Witnesses:

JAMES FOX, RUFUS WATERMAN. 

